1/12/2010 @ 6:00PM

Japan's 40 Richest

Japan slipped back into deflation in 2009 as the price of consumer goods slid, but a 31% stock market rebound meant ballooning fortunes for most of the country’s wealthiest. Japan’s 40 Richest are worth a combined $87 billion, up from $69.5 billion in February when we published the 2009 rankings. The first four tycoons accounted for two-thirds of that gain.

Topping the list for a second year was Tadashi Yanai, the retailer whose affordable Uniqlo clothing stores are drawing customers amid a belt-tightening recession. He added $3.1 billion to his fortune making him worth $9.2 billion.

But by far the biggest gainer is Nobutada Saji and his family. He is now worth $8.6 billion, more than double our previous valuation. The owner of closely held beverage maker Suntory is in talks to merge his business with bigger rival Kirin to create Asia’s first drinks giant able to compete with Europe’s Nestle, Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller, and in the U.S., Coca-Cola. Analysts are predicting a generous deal for Saji that will value his firm at as much as 70% of Kirin’s $16 billion market cap. It would make the Japanese beverage baron and his family the biggest shareholder in the merged company giving them enough voting rights to veto board decisions.

Though not as stellar as Saji’s or even Yanai’s rise, 24 others among the 40 wealthiest gained. Masayoshi Son owner of Japan’s No. 3 mobile phone operator is up $1.7 billion. Hiroshi Mikitani, operator of Rakuten, the nation’s biggest online shopping mall has $1.1 more than last year and mobile social gaming entrepreneur Yoshitaka Tanaka, nearly doubled his worth to $1.6 billion, which earns him bragging rights as Asia’s youngest self-made billionaire.

Five out the top six added more than a billion dollars to their fortunes. As a result, a wealth gap between the bottom–Toyota honorary chairman Shoichiro Toyoda comes in at No. 40 with $620 million–and Yanai at the top widened.

But not everyone did well. One-fourth of the top 40 lost money in the past year. Hurt by a government crackdown on lending, consumer finance tycoons Hiroko Takei of Takefuji; Ryoichi Jinnai, founder of Promise; and Katsuhiro Kinoshita, owner of a big chunk of Acom, are all poorer. Hiroshi Yamauchi, the biggest shareholder in Nintendo, lost $700 million of his fortune as the Wii game console fad faded.

Dropping out of the rankings altogether were Tadahiro Yoshida, owner of leading zipper maker YKK, which is losing money, in part because of weakness in its construction materials division; Hirokazu Sugiura, founder of drugstore chain Sugi Pharmacy, down slightly on falling profits; and Toichi Takenaka, head of Japan’s oldest construction company, which has been hit by slowing orders.

The three new entrants who replaced them include Keiichiro Takahara, founder of diaper and sanitary napkin maker Unicharm; Juichiro Takada, owner of seat belt and airbag supplier Takata; and Takao Yasuda operator of discount retail store chain Don Quijote.

Unlike our billionaires’ rankings, which highlight individual fortunes, Japan’s top 40 includes numerous family fortunes. The list was compiled using shareholder and financial information obtained from the families and individuals themselves, stock exchanges and analysts. Stock prices and exchange rates were locked in on Dec. 30, 2009. Private companies were valued based on comparisons with prevailing price-to-earnings or other financial ratios. Ages are as of Jan. 31.